Tube reducing mill



Feb. 17, 1948. a. a. COE

TUBE REDUCING HILL Filed larch 16, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmvrolm F 6. o-c

Feb. 17, 1948. G. B. COE 2,436,098

TUBE REDUCING HILL M ii N Patented Feb. 17, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUBE REDUCING MILL George 8. (Joe. Upper Montclair, N. 1. Application March 10, 1945, Serial No. 583.099 2 Claims. (Ci. 80-14) This invention relates to improvements in tube reducing mills of the type having a reciprocating head or carriage in which the die-rolls or rockers are journaled, one example of such type of mill being shown in the drawings of my copendlng application died June 22, 1944, Serial Number 541,491. The present improvements are directed more particularly to the means for supporting the head or carriage in that type of mill with a view to reduce friction and vibration and thereby enable the mill to be operated smoothly at high speeds and to secure other advantages to be pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a view in side elevation of the forward end of a tube mill embodying the present improvements, said figure being broken away to show the die-rockers and the connection of the reciprocating means to the carriage; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the line I! in Fig. i. A

The die-rolls or rockers II and their shafts Ii to which they are rigidly secured are preferably symmetrically mounted with respect to a vertical line through the center of the carriage I! on roller bearings II in the carriage which is reciprocated by means including, as here shown, arms ll pivoted. one on each side, to the carriage at I! and operatively connected to the main driving mechanism (not shown) of the mill. Fast on the respective ends of each die-roll shaft are gears I 8 and, on the ends of one of said shafts,

gears ii, the gears It on the same side of the carriage meshing with each other. and the gears i1 meshing respectively with racks it secured, one on each side of the carriage, to the frame I! of the mill. whereby when the carriage is reciprocated by the arms H the die-rolls will be rocked or oscillated. The tubular stock is indicated at Ill and its supporting mandrel at II. The stock and mandrel, together with the parts of the mill Just referred to are shown conventionally since the present improvements are independent of the precise form and relation of those parts.

On each side of the head or carriage IS, the upper part of the frame of the mill is provided with tracks 22 extending along the respective sides of the carriage in a horizontal plane and on or from which the carriage is suspended or hung so that its center of gravity as a. whole (that is including the heavy die-rolls) is as near to said horizontal plane as the driving connections of the reciprocating means practicably permit. being supported on said tracks by rollers 23 iournaied on heavy studs 24 fast to the carriage fore and aft and on each side thereof so that as the carriage is reciprocated the rollers travel back and forth along said tracks. Secured to each roller so as to rotate therewith is a gear 2!. said gears 25 meshing with racks 18 secured on either side of the carriage to the frame It so as to extend along the tracks 22. the purpose of the gears 25 and racks in being to prevent slippage and consequent wear and flattening of the peripheries of the rollers when the carriage reverses the direction of its movement at the beginning and end of each halfcycle of reciprocation.

The distance between the axes of the fore and aft rollers on each side or the carriage is such as to provide a relatively long supp rting base for the carriage. that is to say. relatively long in comparison with the distance of the center of gravity of the carriage from the horizontal plane of the tracks 22. and preferably at least from four to seven times this latter distance. By connecting the arms is of the reciprocating means for the carriage at the point ID on either side of the carriage (each point ill being approximately the same distance as the center of gravity of the carriage from the horizontal plane of the tracks 22) so that the plane of the applied force which effects the reciprocation of the carriage will be very close to the plane of the tracks 22 in comparison with the length of the roller base of the carriage, the tendency of the carriage to vibrate will be counteracted even when it is reciprocated at high speeds. The elimination of vibration is a very important consideration in any heavilybuilt mechanism and especially so in tube mills of the present type desi ned for the cold rolling of metal tubing to within very narrow tolerances of a prescribed size and gage since their efficiency depends to a large extent upon capability of operation at high speeds which. in turn. requires absolute smoothness of operation at all times.

The use of supporting rollers for the die-roll carriage I have found to be of great advantage over the customary bearing-shoes since the rollers provide an almost frictionless bearing with little or no lubricating difficulties such as are encountered with bearing-shoes which, if lubrication fails, burn rapidly owing to the enormous friction which immediately ensues. This is not so with the rollers since they can be safely left to automatic lubrication. whereas bearing-shoes require constant watching despite automatic lubrication. In the mill of my aforesaid patent application, the rollers supporting the die-roll carriage roll along the base of the mill and support the carriage above them. That arrangemeat I have found to be much less advantageous than the present attention at all times.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a tube reducing mill. the combination with the frame thereof.

umber 25 1,980,188

4 to roll on said tracks, gears Secured to the rollers to rotate therewith, and

REFERENCES CITED 20 The following reference: are of record in the file of this paten NITED STATES PA'I'lNIs Nome Dete Coe Nov. 18, 103! 

